I've always wanted to get some base ten blocks for exploring math at home, but I find the plastic ones kind of...well, ugly. And the foam ones aren't any better. Ideally, I wanted plain wooden base ten blocks, but couldn't find any. Then I found the perfect solution at the dollar store! So here's how I made my own wooden base ten blocks.
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I chose to only make tens and ones since it would take me forever to make hundreds and thousands. But I may make some in the future. Here's what you'll need to make the ones and tens as pictured above:
- Mini wood cubes - I found 42 for $1 at the dollar store. I used three bags in total.
- Hot glue gun
To make the ones, you will just use 10 mini wood cubes. No gluing involved. To make the tens, simply hot glue 10 mini wood cubes together until you make a long stick. That's it!
These DIY wooden base ten blocks look so much nicer than the plastic blocks and the foam blocks. They will be a great way to practice counting and place value.
Here are some other great DIY math manipulatives to try:
